I don't think the instagram post suggests this is 'almost certainly' the direct reason, and I haven't seen anything other than general vibes given from employees (not saying they can/should give...
they’re laying off half the staff. This is almost certainly in response to Bandcamp’s efforts to unionize (see the bandcamp union’s response to the layoffs on instagram)
I don't think the instagram post suggests this is 'almost certainly' the direct reason, and I haven't seen anything other than general vibes given from employees (not saying they can/should give up anything else).
It's not uncommon after a business change hands for the new ownership to fire/hire, and firing surely raises eyebrows. It's possible Epic or even Bandcamp overhired in attempts to grow (I saw they had 118 employees total, no idea if that's a lot), and SongTradr is more interested in just keeping it ticking along. I don't know. I'd be keen if anyone has more info/updates, but I suspect we'll have to wait.
I'm doubtful of this idea that a more open/ethical alternative could just pop up and solve the mess. We've just barely carved a space in Bandcamp for major labels to feel comfortable publishing there, since around 2020. Network effect is a very real thing here - it won't matter if you have better intentions or technologies, or even thousands of voices on your side.
Why not simply start a clone of Bandcamp, but worker-owned? (or better, is there any chance for the Bandcamp union to buy back Bandcamp?) This project seems to consider the selling of music as an...
Why not simply start a clone of Bandcamp, but worker-owned? (or better, is there any chance for the Bandcamp union to buy back Bandcamp?)
This project seems to consider the selling of music as an afterthought, but that was the main draw of Bandcamp. I don't see how making a platform that needs to be self-hosted platform can even begin to approach Bandcamp's role. Particularly as Bandcamp's audience is you know, musicians, not people running hobby servers.
And what role does federation play? I can't imagine it to be federation of payment data... so what good is it in a Bandcamp-esque model?
A distribution platform does not mean a distribution platform with payment support, and storefront support is a tiny bullet point at the very end of their very long feature list. I am highly...
A distribution platform does not mean a distribution platform with payment support, and storefront support is a tiny bullet point at the very end of their very long feature list. I am highly skeptical that this will ever come to anything.
I don't think the instagram post suggests this is 'almost certainly' the direct reason, and I haven't seen anything other than general vibes given from employees (not saying they can/should give up anything else).
It's not uncommon after a business change hands for the new ownership to fire/hire, and firing surely raises eyebrows. It's possible Epic or even Bandcamp overhired in attempts to grow (I saw they had 118 employees total, no idea if that's a lot), and SongTradr is more interested in just keeping it ticking along. I don't know. I'd be keen if anyone has more info/updates, but I suspect we'll have to wait.
I'm doubtful of this idea that a more open/ethical alternative could just pop up and solve the mess. We've just barely carved a space in Bandcamp for major labels to feel comfortable publishing there, since around 2020. Network effect is a very real thing here - it won't matter if you have better intentions or technologies, or even thousands of voices on your side.
Why not simply start a clone of Bandcamp, but worker-owned? (or better, is there any chance for the Bandcamp union to buy back Bandcamp?)
This project seems to consider the selling of music as an afterthought, but that was the main draw of Bandcamp. I don't see how making a platform that needs to be self-hosted platform can even begin to approach Bandcamp's role. Particularly as Bandcamp's audience is you know, musicians, not people running hobby servers.
And what role does federation play? I can't imagine it to be federation of payment data... so what good is it in a Bandcamp-esque model?
I don't think I agree with saying selling music is an afterthought. In fact, it's the very first thing they say they're going to do:
A distribution platform does not mean a distribution platform with payment support, and storefront support is a tiny bullet point at the very end of their very long feature list. I am highly skeptical that this will ever come to anything.